Music streaming is an online service that enables users to listen to digital music files from a central library. It has become an increasingly popular way of experiencing music and generated major revenue for the industry. Users can access this service for a fee on various devices like smartphones, laptops, computers and tablets; estimates suggest Americans listened to 1.15 trillion songs through streaming services in 2019.
Streaming has become an integral part of modern life and is used by millions around the world. It offers convenience and cost-efficiency, offering a vast library of music from around the world for just $10/month with a subscription. Plus, streaming offers you a chance to discover new tracks based on your listening history as well as other factors.
Since the dawn of digitization in the early 2000s, the music industry has experienced many upheavals and revolutions. Services like Napster and Limewire revolutionized how people consume music; yet at the same time they caused a decline in revenues for record companies.
Due to this decline, the music industry was forced to reorganize and develop other revenue streams. For instance, they began promoting and distributing various music videos on YouTube as a new marketing avenue, as well as creating new connections with consumers.
Some of the world’s most successful music streaming services include Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music Unlimited. Each has a distinct selection of songs from popular hits to lesser-known artists; some offer larger catalogs than others depending on which genre they represent.
It is essential to remember that the music industry has not completely forgotten about physical albums and CD singles, which remain essential revenue streams for many artists and labels. However, streaming has seen an exponential growth in recent years and now accounts for the majority of recorded music revenues worldwide.
This has led to the creation of alternative metrics systems for music charts such as album equivalent units. These take into account song streaming usage and music-related content on video sharing platforms.
One of the most popular ways to gauge a song’s success is its number of streams. This has proven to be an effective strategy for some artists, since streams are an indicator of popularity and allow fans to accumulate equivalent sales by streaming multiple times.
The UK Official Chart Company equates 150 streams to one sale, which is an intuitive metric. This has allowed popular artists to reach the charts multiple times, leading to an increase in non-singles appearing on the charts.
